Well, this has been a very difficult year for all of us. We, like many, and hopefully most, have been self-quarantining, social distancing, and wearing masks when having to venture out. It’s been like a bad dream… seems unreal, but it is very real. We have been blessed with not having contracted the virus as well as our family and immediate friends. Our condolences and best wishes to those who haven’t been as lucky. We look forward to seeing a light at the end of this trying tunnel.

While sequestered, we have been using some of the time to explore new designs and creations with our glass. Sandy reminded me that we had always intended to get into lighting and mirrors as an application of our glass art. In fact, our website has a section entitled “Lighting and Mirrors” with nothing in it. At an earlier update of our website. I indicated that we would do so be the summer of 2018.Well, we clearly missed that date… but I’m happy to say that in our looking forward to a “light at the end of this nightmare tunnel”, I was inspired to create a light fixture with our fused glass. The fixture is not a sconce or table lamp as described in the sidebar of the Lighting and Mirrors section, but a chandelier

The piece I created is hanging in our home entry way. Photo of it is shown above. The orange and blue were chosen by Sandy to go with colors we have throughout our home. (As artists, we have lots of bright colors in our house!) The fixture incorporates six separate glass pieces…. the five blue panels and the sixth being the bottom orange and white bowl. Interpretation of the piece has been all over the place. To me, it’s a starfish on a blue coral reef. My daughter saw a goldfish with a blue tail. I had never seen one so she emailed me a photo… wow, a beautiful creature. My nephew sees it as a flower with leaves of angel wings. So, take your choice. Anyway, it took a bit of trial and error to figure out how to integrate the pieces into a secure and stable structure…. but there it is, hanging in our entry… kind of wild, huh! (This design can be repeated in other color combinations…. if anyone is interested.)

I am also working on another chandelier design… a simpler single piece, more geometric based. I’ll take me a while to work it out but I expect to have it done by mid-October… another light in this tunnel! Sandy is working on mirror piece, also hoping to have that done soon as well.

Anyway, that is “What’s New” with us. We hope and pray you all stay safe as we look forward to the light at the end of the tunnel.